After-hours bank robbery lands woman in court

Mar 30, 2022

In court: A woman has pleaded guilty to burglary and theft at a Numurkah bank. Photo by Rodney Braithwaite

A woman who stole what she thought were wads of $50 notes after a bank door was accidentally left open will have to wait until late April to find out her fate in court.

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Narelle Rossiter, 46, of Numurkah, pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to three counts of theft, burglary and contravening a bail condition.

Prosecutor Sam Owen said Rossiter and a co-accused went inside a Numurkah Bank after hours on September 9 last year after they noticed a door had been accidentally left open.

The court heard Rossiter took two dye packs which had a $50 note at the top of them and looked liked wads of $50 notes from behind the counter.

The dyes activated outside the bank and the dye packs were dropped on the footpath about 50m away.

Ms Owen said when police interviewed Rossiter she made full admissions to the incident and told police she put her clothes in the neighbour’s bin.

The court also heard Rossiter stole a charity tin from Numurkah Golf Club on April 28 last year.

Ms Owen said Rossiter took the Royal Children’s Hospital charity tin from a counter and put it in her handbag.

It contained about $78 in donations.

Rossiter was banned from the club as a result of the theft, but breached a bail condition by going there with her mother for lunch two month later.

The court was also told Rossiter stole a cat collar and worming paste from Ritchies IGA supermarket in Yarra Glen on March 31 last year.

Rossiter’s solicitor Nancy Battiato told the court Rossiter’s co-accused had already been sentenced over the burglary and theft at the bank and had received a community corrections order with 100 hours of community work.

She asked for a parity of sentence for her client.

Ms Battiato also told the court Rossiter had bipolar disorder and that she had a drug problem where she had been using methamphetamines “on-and-off” for about two years.

“It doesn’t provide an excuse, but it provides an explanation of her behaviour,” Ms Battiato said.

She also told the court Rossiter was homeless at the time of the IGA theft but had since moved to her mother’s house in Numurkah.

Magistrate Anne Goldsbrough ordered that Rossiter be assessed for a community corrections order.

Her matter will come back to court in late April for sentence.